Abstract
This paper addresses the pivotal yet forgotten role that Morocco played in the Spanish Civil War. Other histories and analyses of the Civil War limit discussion to the Spanish side of the conflict without recognizing the colonialist holdings that Spain had and the ways that those lands and people impacted the war. This leads to an incomplete history that denies the Civil War its full historical context and the foundational context for the Nationalist side of the conflict. This paper analyzes the war as well as the ideological creations behind Spanish Fascism and the ways in which Morocco was tied to the creation of the Spanish Civil War, how it was important to the fighting of the conflict, and how it was pivotal to the war's eventual outcome. This will be argued by looking at the racist and eurocentric views of the Spanish Republic and how those views lead directly to its failure in the Civil War. This article will analyze first hand accounts of people directly involved in the war and the factors that led to the involvement of Moroccans on the Nationalist side.
Highlights
The Spanish Civil War was essentially the prelude to World War Two and has been subject to many analyses about the course of events and its impact. These analyses mostly focus on aspects of the battles, the social changes that occurred in places such as Catalonia, and the ways various world powers were involved
Most of the talk about the Spanish Civil War is Eurocentric, which makes sense because it occurred in Spain and European powers were involved in the fighting
This is despite the fact that the main revolt that started the war did not occur in Spain but in a Moroccan Colony and that Francisco Franco, the main general on the Nationalist side and future dictator of Spain, began his career fighting in Morocco
Summary
The Spanish Civil War was essentially the prelude to World War Two and has been subject to many analyses about the course of events and its impact. There is little discussion on the impact that these colonies had on the war nor on how colonized people were involved This is despite the fact that the main revolt that started the war did not occur in Spain but in a Moroccan Colony and that Francisco Franco, the main general on the Nationalist side and future dictator of Spain, began his career fighting in Morocco. The most notable of these was Francisco Franco who began his career serving in the Rif War and became the youngest officer to be promoted to general His development was heavily connected to the Rif Wars as he states “without Africa I can scarcely explain myself to myself, nor can I explain myself properly to my comrades in arms.” He and many other Africanistas' colonialist obsession with Morocco was so great that, in 1924 they plotted a coup against the Spanish dictator Primo.
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